ESPN. The Nets got a conditional first round pick from the Warriors for Williams, which doesn't sound like a whole hell of a lot. I guess the question is "how conditional"? Top-three protected? Lottery protected? And also, when? This coming year, when the Warriors might again be on the outside looking in for the playoffs? The year after that?

It almost doesn't matter, though, because the Warriors aren't going to be terrible anytime soon, so this pick won't be very high, and Williams is a guy I still think can be a good point guard in the league. Are the Nets really so loaded at the one that they can just give a guy like him away? I guess with Devin Harris and Keyon Dooling on the squad, Williams wasn't going to get much playing time. But doesn't that just beg the question of why the Nets bothered to acquire Dooling in the first place?

The other part of this is that with Williams, the Nets roster stood at 17 guys. It looks like Nenad Krstic won't be back, which trims them down to 15 and allows Chris Douglas-Roberts to make the team. Somebody on the squad had to be traded or released or something, in other words, and I guess Williams was probably the best answer, unless you're going to retroactively question things like signing Eduardo Najera or acquiring Dooling.

But I guess getting worked up over backup point guards on Eastern lottery teams isn't really worth it. From the Warriors' perspective, though, this looks like a pretty savvy pickup, getting a guy who can be at least a quality backup for not much at all, as they recognized New Jersey's lack of leverage and took advantage of it to fill a hole. And hey, if Monta Ellis really can't handle the rock 38 minutes a night, it's nice to have someone you can trust a little bit to play a real point game in the Nellieball offense.